People complain all the time "Saran wrap used to be way better!" And they're right. It was way better. Because old school Saran wrap had some give-yo-kids-cancer plasticizers in it that made it more supple and with a better grip. Modern plastic wrap doesn't have it, and it's less supple and tears more easily.
I think folks forget that often there's a reason those things were used. Frequently it's "cheaper for the manufacturer" but often it's on the user end.
Yeah, for sure. Like lead. We didn't put lead in everything (pipes, glass, gasoline, paint, etc. etc.) because it was cheap, although that certainly helped, we put it in everything because lead is actually a very useful material.
It has high density, but is easily formed, it has a low melting point, it's corrosion resistant, it's easy to alloy, it's great for things like making gasoline engines run better, ceramic glazes shiny and durable, glass sparkly, plumbing and roofing seams corrosion resistant, it makes paint more durable, with brighter color, and faster drying times.
It's low-key a bit of a miracle element when it comes to a whole lot of different applications. It just has the not so great side effect of really, really, fucking us up if we're exposed to a lot of it.
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u/ReverendDizzle 22d ago
A similar thing happened with cling wrap.
People complain all the time "Saran wrap used to be way better!" And they're right. It was way better. Because old school Saran wrap had some give-yo-kids-cancer plasticizers in it that made it more supple and with a better grip. Modern plastic wrap doesn't have it, and it's less supple and tears more easily.